How good is YOUR basket? A Semi-Scientific Study

[Jenga54]

Age Old Question... How well does this basket catch? Which is the Best? Which is your Favorite? Which should I install on my New Course?

Obviously this is somewhat of a monetary question - but not always and only one consideration. It's also somewhat subjective - but why not try to put some hard numbers to it with a data-driven test method?

Yes, I know... there are many other baskets out there... but these are the most common in my area (Twin Cities MN) with around 125 courses in a 60 mile radius. These are the baskets I could get at to test.

Yes, if you ship me a new basket that is not on this list, I'll test it, and amend this video. So if you'd like me to add a basket, hit me up and I'd be happy to accept your basket donation.

[Lazerface]

Matches my personal experience.

[ThomasOrion]

Of all the baskets I've used

The Good:
Prodigy T1
DGA Mach X
Discraft Chainstar Pro
Dynamic Discs Veteran
(MVP Black hole Portal seems like the Veteran - probably a fine basket but I've never used one)

The Bad:
Mach II - and many other baskets I don't know the names of

The Ugly:
Mach III , somehow worse than Mach II - its the worst and should be banned.

[R-Ogre]

Best: dicatcher traveler. As long as you don’t hit center chains, it’ll stick somehow haha.

[slowplastic]

I'm surprised the Chainstar did that well. I think I don't love them because you can get a variety of misses like cut throughs, bounce backs, and weak side push outs both low and high. Even though the Mach X was only slightly better on paper I think the putts it doesn't like are more consistent, like weaker putts on the sides, especially weak side.

[araytx]

Based on your “semi scientific” study, your conclusions really work, but solely for your style of putting. To get a better picture, one must replicate all those findings with a firm loft putter, a medium speed loft putter, a soft loft putter, a firm medium and soft spin putter, and a firm, medium, and soft hybrid style putter + maybe variations like flat vs slyzer vs slanny , etc., +any others I might have left out. Most of the time when I hear someone taking about how good or bad a particular basket catches, they are speaking of their style, not all styles in general.

[Casey 1988]

these are the baskets I have used over the years.
Great:
DGA Mach V
Gateway Titan used on one course in California when I played in 2004.
New Innova Discatcher Pro At Lompoc California
Dynamic Disc Veteran not at a course but as a basket in a store in Winnona Minnesota, putting in a Clutch that would have needed cleaning if I got it, something visibly Sticky was on the disc.

Good:
DGA Mach III are not bad with the new bottom Cage hight, not the best but not bad as they will help with your putting so you are not edge putting but rather more near the middle on one side. I have used these Mach III fine.
Old Innova Discatcher Pro, if the chains are not rusted out otherwize the basket chains are very stiff
Lighting DB-5 also one of the toughest baskets, one at a local course in my area before it was modified with the old Mach III top survived a 20-30 foot tall ceder tree falling on the basket.

Okay: Mach II new, has a just slightly smaller basket size then even the old style for Mach III on up

Bad: Mach II original style, these were made for a less fast disc era when Putters were slower, lots of guys were still using Wham-O discs as actual disc golf discs were hard to find.
The Chain Star (non Pro) baskets that I have used. The Chain Star original will spit out disc that hit the inside of cage too hard on a stronger putt and have been known to have discs skip in and out of the basket if no chains were used nor was the pole. How these have not been stopped in production is more like: Why make that basket?, unless Discraft is just running out the inventory. Discraft could remove the old Chainstar bottom and add from the Mach III on up series that bottom cage the DGA side company uses and still make the old Chain Star baskets, just send in a modified basket to get approved.

[ru4por]

Originally Posted by araytx

Based on your “semi scientific” study, your conclusions really work, but solely for your style of putting. To get a better picture, one must replicate all those findings with a firm loft putter, a medium speed loft putter, a soft loft putter, a firm medium and soft spin putter, and a firm, medium, and soft hybrid style putter + maybe variations like flat vs slyzer vs slanny , etc., +any others I might have left out. Most of the time when I hear someone taking about how good or bad a particular basket catches, they are speaking of their style, not all styles in general.

Not to mention the slew of different plastics and the massive variety of putter shapes and weights.

Baskets are not inherently bad or good. They are just designed to accept different putting styles and putters. I have played on Mach III to Chainstars primarily. It should be no surprise that I use a soft plastic putter and developed a soft, nose up putting style.

[markmcc]

This is a decent effort to quantify how a specific group of baskets catch. And I think that the "semi scientific" label fits.

Some of the comments remind me of various projects that I've worked on over the years. There are folks that want to consider every single possibility and account for numerous variables before starting a project. The usual result is that the project never starts because of the complexity. Even if the project goes forward there are doubts raised based on unanticipated issues, often by those same folks.

Or, as in this case, someone can take a basic stab at it, report the data, and we can take it or leave it. Perhaps someone else builds on the data and moves the needle forward a bit more. Better than anything else I've seen to date...

[LateWesternSky]

Slightly paraphrasing. "After making the video I will say my putting from 12-15 feet is now really good. But the bad thing is, I lost the ability to putt from.... basically every other distance". I laughed out loud at that.

Great video, I love it.